Financial support of USD 350 million by June 2017 – World Bank gives positive assessment of Serbia's economic growth

World Bank Country Manager for Serbia Tony Verheijen stated on Saturday, October 1, that he would present Serbia as a successful country which had “turned a new leaf” and dedicated itself to economic reforms at the upcoming annual Meeting of the World Bank and the IMF.

Verheijen said in his interview for RTS that financial support for Serbia was planned for the next year as well and specified that USD 350 million of help was planned for the period from June 2016 till June 2017. He answered affirmatively to the question about whether a greater support was planned for the period after June 2017.

– We are working on further supporting the sectors of finance, energy and transport – Verheijen said.

When asked whether there were new plans and projects for Serbia, Verheijen said that the World Bank was still implementing its strategy.

– We plan to present two projects to the board of directors by late October, one of which is support to public enterprise reforms, the other being additional funds for Corridor 10 – he said and added that the next project was planned for January, the program of educating children and the young, along with support funds to public enterprises.

Verheijen said that the World Bank's team had talked to the government about finding a way to help the government show to the financial market and the assets market that Serbia had turned over a new leaf and that “this is the only way to put all the problems from the past behind us”.

– The government is preparing a strategic approach to this, which will be presented in the months to come, and this is one the issues which the minister of finance will talk about with the vice president – Verheijen said.

He pointed out that Serbia had made surprising, positive results when it came to economic growth, considering the consequences of disastrous 2014 floods.

– There are three encouraging elements – the growth of investments stimulating development, the growth of export thanks to growing investments, but also, for the first time since 2008, a slight growth of consumption. These three factors combined make for good, sustainable factors for the growth to be maintained. It's even better than a growth caused by a turnaround, which usually doesn't last for long – Verheijen pointed out.

According to him, the construction sector is especially encouraging, marking a 30% growth relative to last year, which, as he says, creates new jobs and new opportunities.

In order for the growth to last, Verheijen notes, a lot of work needs to be done, and it's up to the citizens to support the economic initiative and open small and medium enterprises, which are, as he points out, a foundation for a long-term, sustainable economic growth.

Verheijen believes that the problem lies in the lack of ideas and that it's most important to have real ideas and draw real investments.

– This is where we all need to help the government come up with these ideas, which is by no means simple – to find your place in today's regional market, considering that you're competing with countries such as Bulgaria and Romania – Verheijen concluded.

Svetska Banka-WB Beograd

Međunarodni monetarni fond-MMF Beograd

Vlada Republike Srbije

World Bank Country Office for Serbia

Tony Verheijen

World Bank

IMF

International Monetary Fund

public enterprise reform

Corridor 10

Government of Serbia

economic growth of Serbia